Heretofore, molded stack supports have been provided for rolls in a single two-roll support structure foldable along a seam or hinge into a superposed relationship to provide mid-stack support or clamshell sections with upwardly and downwardly extending, roll-engaging cradles or indentations with the supports being easily separable to provide top and bottom pieces for use in the formation of a stack. Such structure shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,314 issued Jan. 14, 1992 to Moyer et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,331 issued May 4, 1999 to Warren, Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,467 issued Aug. 10, 1999 to Gilfert et al.
Roll supports of the type described above have traditionally been manufactured from polystyrene foam or molded pulp constructions that have some nesting capability for stacking the support during storage. However, there are problems encountered using polystyrene foam because it is brittle and has a minimum of structural flexibility. Additionally, foam supports do not offer the compact storage of unused supports. Molded pulp or paper-mache supports are sometimes inadequate for support of rolls in humid weather where they may disintegrate when it is moist. Subsequently, the molded pulp support requires special packaging protection. Like foam supports, their construction is not conducive to a compact stacking formation. When supporting particularly large sized and heavy rolls in a stack, it is desirable to consider a roll support material that is strong enough to support heavy weights, is weather resistant, and offers improved stackability.
Furthermore, it is important especially when providing mid-stack support between upper and lower rolls of large sized and substantial weight, to ensure that the superposed sections are maintained together and held aligned so as to improve mid-stack roll stability. In addition, the superposed sections are maintained together to eliminate the requirement that loading operators must hold the supports in alignment during loading.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a differently configured structure for improving the support and spacing of rolls shipped in a multi-layer stack. It is also desirable to provide a more reliable roll support and spacing structure for enhancing mid-stack roll support. It remains desirable to provide a versatile roll support and spacing structure which can be conveniently manipulated to form support and spacing at various positions in a multi-layer stack.